What is the difference between ACV and RCV on a roof claim?

Replacement Cost Value pays what it costs to replace the roof today, minus your deductible, usually in two checks. Actual Cash Value pays replacement cost minus depreciation for the roof age, and that depreciation is never reimbursed.

Can a roofer pay or waive my insurance deductible?

No. Waiving or absorbing a homeowner deductible is illegal in most states and is considered insurance fraud. A contractor who offers it is telling you how they do business.

Will filing a roof claim raise my insurance rates?

A single weather-related claim usually has less rate impact than a liability claim, and widespread storm events often affect the whole regional rate pool anyway. Multiple claims in a short period are what carriers react to most.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Roof Replacement?

Q: How long do I have to file a roof insurance claim?

Most policies require prompt notice and many carriers set a one to two year window from the date of loss. Do not wait. The longer you wait the harder it is to prove the storm caused the damage.

Q: What if my roof claim is denied?

You can request the adjuster report, ask for a re-inspection with your roofer present, provide additional documentation such as dated storm data and photos, or file an appeal. A licensed public adjuster is another option for larger disputes.

Last updated: August 2026 | A plain-English guide to storm damage claims

The short answer

Yes — if a covered peril caused the damage. Hail, wind, falling limbs, and other sudden storm events are covered under a standard homeowners policy. You pay your deductible, the carrier pays the rest.

No — if the roof simply wore out. Age, granule loss from normal weathering, poor maintenance, and manufacturing defects are not covered. Insurance replaces roofs that were damaged, not roofs that got old.

The gap between those two outcomes is often $15,000 or more, and it usually comes down to documentation: what the damage looks like, when the storm happened, and whether anyone got up on the roof to record it before the evidence weathered away.

What is covered and what is not

Usually covered	Usually not covered
Hail impact damage (bruising, granule displacement, cracked mats)	Age-related wear and normal deterioration
Wind damage — lifted, creased, or missing shingles	Deferred maintenance and neglect
Falling trees and limbs	Pre-existing damage from before the policy started
Sudden water intrusion caused by storm damage	Improper installation or manufacturer defects (that is a warranty claim)
Damage from a covered fire or lightning strike	Cosmetic-only damage, if your policy has a cosmetic damage exclusion
Interior damage caused by the covered roof failure	Roofs already past the age limit in your policy endorsement

Check your policy for two things before you do anything else: whether you have a separate (usually percentage-based) wind/hail deductible, and whether your roof is covered at RCV or ACV. Those two lines determine most of what you will actually receive.

ACV vs. RCV: the single most important line in your policy

This is where homeowners get surprised.

	Replacement Cost Value (RCV)	Actual Cash Value (ACV)
What it pays	What it costs to replace the roof today	Replacement cost minus depreciation for age
How it is paid	Two checks: an initial ACV payment, then the withheld depreciation once work is complete and invoiced	One check, less your deductible
Your out of pocket	Usually just the deductible	Deductible plus all depreciation
Common on	Newer roofs, standard policies	Older roofs, or policies with a roof-age endorsement

What that looks like in dollars

Say a full replacement is $20,000, your deductible is $2,000, and the roof is 15 years old on a 30-year shingle — roughly 50% depreciated.

RCV policy: carrier pays $18,000 total across two checks. You pay $2,000.
ACV policy: carrier pays $8,000 ($20,000 less $10,000 depreciation less $2,000 deductible). You pay $12,000.

Same roof, same storm, same carrier. The difference is one line in the declarations page.

Not sure if you have storm damage?

A free roof inspection tells you whether there is a claim worth filing — before you put one on your record.

Get a Free Roof Inspection

Your deductible — and the pitch you should walk away from

Your deductible is the amount you are contractually required to pay toward the repair. It may be a flat dollar amount ($1,000, $2,500) or, for wind and hail specifically, a percentage of your dwelling coverage — 1% or 2% is common, which on a $350,000 home is $3,500 to $7,000.

If a contractor offers to "waive," "eat," "cover," or "work around" your deductible, end the conversation. That practice is illegal in most states and is treated as insurance fraud — and the homeowner can be exposed too. It is also mathematically impossible to do honestly: the money has to come out of the job somewhere, which means thinner materials, skipped steps, or an inflated invoice to your carrier.

The claim process, step by step

Document immediately and safely. Photos from the ground of the roof, gutters, downspouts, siding, window screens, AC condenser fins, mailbox, and any interior stains. Hail leaves marks on soft metal that are easy to photograph without a ladder. Note the date and time of the storm.
Get a professional inspection first. A qualified roofer will tell you whether the damage is documentable and claim-worthy. Filing a claim that gets denied still shows up on your CLUE report.
File the claim with your carrier. Give the date of loss, describe the event, and provide your documentation. Get the claim number in writing.
Meet the adjuster — with your roofer there. This is the step homeowners skip and regret. Adjusters cover a lot of roofs after a storm event. Having a contractor on the roof at the same time, pointing out damage and code requirements, changes the scope of what gets written.
Review the scope of loss line by line. The adjuster produces an itemized estimate. Compare it against what your roof actually requires: ridge cap, starter, drip edge, ice-and-water where code requires it, ventilation, flashing, permit, disposal, and steep/high charges.
Supplement anything missing. If the scope is short, your contractor submits a supplement with documentation and code citations. This is normal and is not a fight — it is how the process is designed to work.
Complete the work and collect depreciation. On an RCV policy, the final invoice and completion certificate release the withheld recoverable depreciation.

Typical timeline

Stage	Typical window
File claim to adjuster appointment	3–14 days (longer after a widespread event)
Adjuster inspection to written decision	7–21 days
Approval to first (ACV) payment	1–3 weeks
Scheduling to installation	1–8 weeks depending on storm demand
Completion to depreciation release	2–4 weeks after final invoice

Signs of storm damage you can spot from the ground

Hail

Dents in gutters, downspouts, and metal vent caps. Dark bruised spots where granules were knocked off. Granule buildup at the bottom of downspouts. Splatter marks on the deck or siding.

Wind

Missing shingles, shingles lifted or curled at the edge, horizontal creases across a shingle, exposed nail heads, damaged ridge cap, torn or missing pipe boots.

Water intrusion

Ceiling stains, bubbling paint, damp attic insulation, daylight visible through the roof deck, musty smell in the attic after rain.

Mistakes that cost homeowners money

Waiting too long. Damage weathers. Most carriers want prompt notice and many set a one- to two-year limit from the date of loss.
Filing before an inspection. A denied claim still lands on your claims history and can affect renewal.
Letting the adjuster inspect alone. No contractor present means whatever the adjuster writes is the whole scope.
Signing an "authorization to inspect" from a door-knocker. Some of those documents are actually contracts assigning your claim. Read anything before you sign it.
Taking the ACV check and doing nothing. On an RCV policy, you forfeit the recoverable depreciation if the work is never completed and invoiced.
Paying a large deposit up front. Reputable contractors get paid from the insurance proceeds on a normal schedule.

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